Avendonian

Avendonian
avendoniano
Flag of Avendonia
Pronunciation	[avendoˈni̯ano]
Created by	S.C.
Date	2009
Setting	Alt-history Europe, Northern Italian Peninsula
Native to	Avendonia
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic part. Elbe Germanic Avendonian
Early form	Pre-Avendonian
Standard form	Central Avendonian dialect
Dialects	North Adriatic (nordadriatico) Alpine (alpino) High Burgundian (ocburgundico) Low Burgundian (lagburgundico) Genoese (genoico)
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Avendonia
Regulated by	Grunditio Cuningica per la Spraca Avendoniana
Rough borders of Avendonia

Avendonian (autoglossonym: avendoniano; Avendonian: [avendoˈni̯ano]) is a West Germanic language, with strong influence of Vulgar Latin. It is the result of a prolonged contact among members of both regions after West Germanic merchants began traveling to and from the Western Roman Empire. These connections—and the conquest by the Germanic tribes of the northern skirts of the Roman Empire—slowly formed a creole for mutual communication. Eventually, permanent settlements were established in what would become modern-day Avendonia, where Avendonian is primarily spoken, with official status.

While its vocabulary derives for the most part from Proto-Germanic, Latin influence is most notable in its phonology and its grammar.

Etymology

The language name derives directly from the country it is spoken in, Avendonia. It makes reference to the Roman description of the Avendonian peoples, which were settled west of Rome; in the direction of the setting sun. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs (“evening”), it came to mean “sunset people” or “people of the setting sun”.

Orthography

The Avendonian alphabet consists of 18 letters, five of which are vowels and 13 consonants. There are no diacritics, and contractions make use of the apostrophe to mark vowel omission.

Letters of the Avendonian alphabet
Aa	Bb	Cc	Dd	Ee	Ff	Gg	Ii	Ll	Mm	Nn	Oo	Pp	Rr	Ss	Tt	Uu	Vv

Non-native letters such as Jj, Kk, Qq, Zz, etc. may occur in some foreign words or proper nouns, chiefly in toponyms and given names. Yy is part of the alphabet of the Burgundian dialects of Avendonian, like in dydere.

The letters correspond almost one-to-one to their pronunciation. The Avendonian orthography is considered shallow or phonetic, as opposed to deep orthographies like French's. The orthography features that do not follow the correspondence are:

• The letters c and g make the sound /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, respectively, if followed by e or i. Examples: cicare /t͡͡ʃiˈkare/, geldo /ˈd͡ʒeldo/.
• t in the combination ti makes the sound [t͡s]. Example: tite [ˈt͡site].
• The combination gn makes the sound /ɲ/, as in Italian or Spanish ñ. Example: gnagare /ɲaˈgare/.
• i in intervocalic position or word-initially represents the semivowel /j/. Examples: iaro /ˈjaro/, bluiare /bluˈjare/.
• The digraph sc before front vowels (that is, i and e) makes the sound /ʃ/. Example: sciio /ˈʃijo/.
• The digraph ch makes the sound /k/, and it is only found in loanwords.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

	Labial		Dental/ alveolar		Post- alveolar/ palatal		Velar
Nasal		m		n		ɲ		(ŋ)
Stop	p	b	t	d			k	ɡ
Affricate			t͡ʃ	d͡ʒ
Fricative	f	v	s		ʃ
Approximant						j
Lateral				l
Trill				r

Notes:

• As stated in §Orthography, earlier /k, g, sk/ have palatalized to /t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, ʃ/ before front vowels /i, e/.
• When followed or preceded by a vowel but not word-initially, /i/ shortens and forms a diphthong with the adjacent vowel. Examples: sigie [ˈsid͡ʒi̯e], perstelitio [persteˈlit͡si̯o].
• [ɾ] is a permissible allophone of /r/ in fast speech.
• [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/ before velar stops /k, g/, both intra- and intersyllabically, although the former can only happen in the Low Burgundian dialect.
  Examples: drincare [driŋˈkare], anguste [aŋˈguste], Low Burgundian clang [klaŋg] (standard clango).

Vowels

Vowel phonemes

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i	(y)		u
Close-mid	e			o
Open	a

Notes:

• /y/ is native to the Burgundian dialects. See §Dialects below.
• /e, o/ may be realized as [e̞, o̞].

Prosody

Avendonian is strictly paroxytonic, meaning words always receive stress on their second-to-last syllable.

spraca (spra‑ca) [ˈspra.ka], ordo (or‑do) [ˈor.do], bucaria (bu‑ca‑ria) [buˈka.ri̯a], etc.

Monosyllabic words like blio have the stress in their only syllable, but it is weaker than those in polysyllabic words unless emphasized. Enclitic and other unstressed personal pronouns do not affect stress patterns:

elpare-te, [elˈpa.re‿te] and not [el.paˈre‿te]

Longer words (four or more syllables) may receive secondary stress in the fourth-to-last syllable (i.e. two syllables before the main or primary stress):

sobgrundsporvego [sobˌgrund.sporˈve.go], surstopitio [ˌsur.stoˈpi.t͡si̯o]

Grammar

Avendonian grammar is relatively straightforward and akin to the grammar of other Romance languages, due to the influence of Latin.

1. Two sets of articles, indefinite and definite, preceding the noun.
2. Gender and number inflection in nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. Articles and adjectives must agree inflection-wise with the noun or pronoun they modify.
3. Twofold gender system, masculine and feminine. Loss of Latin neuter gender.
4. Fusional verb inflection for person, number, mood, and tense.

However, noun and adjective declension endings, along with the ablaut in strong verbs are elements derived from Germanic.

Articles

Both definite and indefinite articles have four distinct forms, for number and gender:

Indefinite articles

	masculine	feminine
singular	uno	una
plural	uni	une

Definite articles

	masculine	feminine
singular	el	la
plural	li	le

Avendonian articles function similarly as English a and the, but gender and number of the following noun determine the form that must be used. For example:

buce m sg → el buce (“the book”), uno buce (“a book”).

frage f pl → le frage (“the questions”), une frage (“some questions”).

etc.

The definite article el forms a contraction with prepositions a and de, using an apostrophe: a'l, d'el. These are the only standard contractions; other contractions like Ca ga't? from ga + et (“How goes it?”, greeting) are permissible but discouraged in formal writing.

Demonstratives

In Avendonian there are two sets of demonstratives, which can be used either as determiners or pronouns: proximal and distal. As adjectives, the stem may be suffixed with -ie to form adverbs, ecie ‘here’ and elie ‘there’.

Proximal demonstratives

	masculine	feminine
singular	eco	eca
plural	eci	ece

Distal demonstratives

	masculine	feminine
singular	elo	ela
plural	eli	ele

Nouns

Avendonian noun declensions

	A-stem	O-stem	E-stem	U-stem
singular	-a	-o	-e	-o
plural	-e	-i		-u

Nouns in Avendonian fall in one of the following almost fully regular declensions:

• A-stem: mostly feminine nouns. From Latin first declension and Germanic ō- and ōn-stems. E.g. erda.
• O-stem: chiefly masculine nouns. From Latin second declension and Germanic a-stems. E.g. vundro.
• E-stem: both genders. From the third and fifth declensions of Latin and various Germanic stems (like an-stems). E.g. snege.
• U-stem: both genders but mainly masculine. From Latin fourth declension and u-stem from Germanic. E.g. vintro.

Notable exceptions are the productive suffix -tio, which forms feminine o-stem nouns from verbs, and the -ista suffix forms epicene a-stem nouns. Other words have no distinctive feature in the modern language, i.e. differences are etymological.

Personal pronouns

Avendonian personal pronouns

			personal pronouns		possessive pronoun
			subjective	objective
first person	singular		eo	me	mede
	plural		vi	nos	nosde
second person	singular	default	tu	te	tede
		formal	Si		Side
	plural		i	vos	vosde
third person	singular	masculine	e	si	side
		feminine	si
		neuter	et
	plural		si

Personal pronouns in Avendonian have the following forms:

• Avendonian is not a pro-drop language, like other Romance languages. In other words, the subject, which may or may not be a personal pronoun must appear in every sentence, except in relative clauses where the subject of both statements is the same.

Eo spreco avendoniano. “I speak Avendonian.”

El hundo ce (et) va mudio asatui. “The dog which was tired sat down.”

• Objective pronouns act as the direct object of a sentence. If the verb is an infinitive or an imperative, the pronoun is attached to it with a hyphen; otherwise, it precedes the verb.

E me gavo uno scenco en el burddago mede. “He gave me a present for my birthday.”

Bido, sende-me uno posrito cando si encumen. “Please, send me a message when they arrive.”

• Possessive pronouns can function as determiners and pronouns, i.e. my and mine. Possessives
  must be written in the form of [article] + [noun] + [possessive]. The article still agrees in gender and number with the noun.

El vagno mede. ‘My car’

Le sceiate side. ‘His/Her/Their stories’

Pergatasti tu el buce tede? Eo cuno liare el mede. “Did you forget your book? I can lend you mine.”

• Avendonian has, as in the Romance languages, T–V distinction. This distinction is lost in the plural. Formal second-person pronouns are always capitalized, in all forms, no matter the environment.

Bido ero, ce bi el name Side? “Excuse me, sir, what is your name?” (formal)

Si Si bi perlisato, vi cunamos ledere-Si. “If you are lost, we can guide you.” (formal)

Adjectives

As said above, adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun, and are placed after them. They exist in three degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative. All three degrees have an adverbial form, using the suffix -ie. In other words, every adjective can be morphed into an adverb.

Positive degree

The positive degree is the default form of Avendonian adjectives, which simply describes the noun. It is also the only degree subject to declensional variation. The declension patterns are exactly as those of nouns, although porpora is considered irregular, not a-stem.

Uno vagno roto. ‘A red car’

La dotre sciia mede. ‘My shy daughter’

Li landi fere. ‘The distant/far countries’

The same forms can also be used predicatively. Thus: La dotre mede bi sciia. “My daughter is shy.”, Li landi bin fere. “The countries are far (away).”, etc. Passive participles can function as regular adjectives, and active participles (or gerunds) result in undeclinable adjectives. An example of an adjective of each declension is given:

O-stem

alto (“old”)
posv	masculine	feminine
singular	alto	alta
plural	alti	alte

E-stem

comene (“common”)
posv	masculine	feminine
singular	comene
plural

U-stem

engo (“narrow”)
posv	masculine	feminine
singular	engo
plural	engu

Irregular

porpora (“purple”)
posv	masculine	feminine
singular	porpora
plural	porpore

Comparative degree

Regular

alto (“old”)
cmpr	masculine	feminine
singular	altior	altiora
plural	altiori	altiore

Irregular

guto (“good”)
cmpr	masculine	feminine
singular	betior	betiora
plural	betiori	betiore

Avendonian comparative adjectives can establish three sorts of comparison: equative (X is as Y as Z), superior (X is more Y than Z), and inferior (X is less Y than Z). Fusional endings are only used in
equative comparatives. Consider the following example:

• Iane is shorter than Vilelmo. Iane bi curtior ce Vilelmo.
• Iane is as short as Vilelmo. Iane bi ta curto ca Vilelmo.
• Iane is “less short” than Vilelmo. Iane bi minire curto ca Vilelmo.

Notice the use of different prepositions in each comparison. Both X and Z can be personal pronouns, only in the subject form.

• You are shorter than me. Tu bis curtior ce eo.

Regular

alto (“old”)
supl	masculine	feminine
singular	altesmo	altesma
plural	altesmi	altesme

Irregular

guto (“good”)
supl	masculine	feminine
singular	betesmo	betesma
plural	betesmi	betesme

Superlative degree

Superlatives are always preceded by a definite article, and both must agree with the noun they are modifying. Thus:

• Iane bi el curtesmo. “Iane is the shortest.”
• Iane e Vilelmo bin li curtesmi. “Iane and Vilelmo are the shortest.”

Indeclinable adjectives

Some adjectives have a single form for all degrees, but the same effect is achieved by placing before them the adverbs mere and mesto. Some of these adjectives are indeclinable for etymological reasons (e.g. na) or because of their nature as active participles (e.g. denemanti). Mesto however does inflect for gender and number, like a regular adjective.

na (“near, close”)

positive	comparative	superlative
na	mere na	mesto na

 

• That joke is the most welcome.
  Elo stricolo bi el mesto vilicume.

 

 

• Those jokes are the most welcome.
  Eli stricoli bin li mesti vilicume.

 

Verbs

Verbs are the part of speech that exhibits the most morphology in Avendonian. There are ten main tenses, three moods, six persons, and two numbers—passive participles inflect for gender too. Verbs in Avendonian are, in general, very regular except for a small set of verbs, which includes the copula sire.

Avendonian classifies both weak and strong verbs in two conjugations, -are (first conjugation) and -ere (second conjugation). The former are the most prone to have ablaut, which changes the vowel of the stem in the perfect tenses.

Weak verbs

weak 1^st conjugation example paradigm — ladare (“to load”)

active participle			ladanti
passive participle			masculine feminine singular ladato ladata plural ladati ladate
person       tense		first singular eo	second singular tu	third singular e, si, et	first plural vi	second plural i	third plural si
indicative	present	lado	ladas	lada	ladamos	ladates	ladan
	perfect	lade	ladasti	lado	ladamos	ladastes	ladaron
	imperfect	ladaba	ladabas	ladaba	ladabamos	ladabates	ladaban
	future	ladarabo	ladarabes	ladarabe	ladarabemos	ladarabetes	ladaraben
	conditional	ladaraba	ladarabas	ladaraba	ladarabamos	ladarabates	ladaraban
subjunctive	present	lade	lades	lade	lademos	ladetes	laden
	perfect	ladase	ladases	ladase	ladasemos	ladasetes	ladasen
imperative			lada			ladan

weak 2^nd conjugation example paradigm — ladere (“to invite”)

active participle			ladenti
passive participle			masculine feminine singular ladeto ladeta plural ladeti ladete
person       tense		first singular eo	second singular tu	third singular e, si, et	first plural vi	second plural i	third plural si
indicative	present	lado	lades	lade	lademos	ladetes	laden
	perfect	ladui	laduis	ladui	laduimos	laduites	laduin
	imperfect	ladia	ladias	ladia	ladiamos	ladiates	ladian
	future	laderabo	laderabes	laderabe	laderabemos	laderabetes	laderaben
	conditional	laderaba	laderabas	laderaba	laderabamos	laderabates	laderaban
subjunctive	present	lada	ladas	lada	ladamos	ladates	ladan
	perfect	laduise	laduises	laduise	laduisemos	laduisetes	laduisen
imperative			lade			laden

Notice:

• The only difference between active and passive participles, present indicative, future, and conditional of each conjugation is the thematic vowel. E.g. 2sg prs ind ladas vs. lades.
• Perfect subjunctive forms are perfect indicative forms with a -se suffix.
• If the thematic vowel is -a-, then the vowel in the present subjunctive endings is -e-, and vice versa.
• The personal endings in their most basic form are -Ø, -s, -Ø, -mos, -tes, -n.
• Imperative forms are exactly as singular and plural third-person present indicative forms. Formal imperatives are formed similarly with present subjunctive forms.

Strong verbs

Strong verbs are conjugated as weak verbs, but the main stem vowel undergoes a phonological process known as ablaut. This is present in the indicative and subjunctive perfect tense. In the following example, the tenses that remain unchanged are omitted.

strong 1^st conjugation example paradigm — scedare (“to separate”)

person       tense		first singular eo	second singular tu	third singular e, si, et	first plural vi	second plural i	third plural si
indicative	present	scedo	scedas	sceda	scedamos	scedates	scedan
	perfect	scide	scidasti	scido	scidamos	scidastes	scidaron
subjunctive	perfect	scidase	scidases	scidase	scidasemos	scidasetes	scidasen

strong 2^nd conjugation example paradigm — evere (“to lift”)

person       tense		first singular eo	second singular tu	third singular e, si, et	first plural vi	second plural i	third plural si
indicative	present	evo	eves	eve	evemos	evetes	even
	perfect	uvui	uvuis	uvui	uvuimos	uvuites	uvuin
subjunctive	perfect	uvuise	uvuises	uvuise	uvuisemos	uvuisetes	uvuisen

Second-conjugation strong verbs are much less common than first-conjugation. They are derived from Proto-Germanic j-present strong verbs, which were already scarce.

Irregular verbs

Besides the copula, there are only two irregular verbs: duere and friiere—and derivatives thereof. In the perfect tenses, duere uses -v- instead of the expected -u-: eo davi, not *eo daui, tu davis, not *tu dauis, etc.; eo davise, tu davises, etc.

friiere, on the other hand, has an irregularity in the imperfect indicative tense. The expected *eo friiia, *tu friiias, etc. is rendered as eo frigia, tu frigias, etc.

sire, to be

Like many other languages, including Romance and Germanic, the verb to be is very irregular. The copula is suppletive, meaning the stem changes between tenses. A full conjugation paradigm is given.

tense		forms						etymology
infinitive		sire
active participle		vesanti
passive participle		masculine feminine singular sito sita plural siti site
person       tense		first singular eo	second singular tu	third singular e, si, et	first plural vi	second plural i	third plural si
indicative	present	bi	bis	bin	bimos	bites	bin
	perfect	va	vas	va	vamos	vates	van
	imperfect	era	eras	era	eramos	erates	eran
	future	sirabo	sirabes	sirabe	sirabemos	sirabetes	siraben
	conditional	siraba	sirabas	siraba	sirabamos	sirabates	siraban
subjunctive	present	si	sis	si	simos	sites	sin
	perfect	vari	varis	vari	varimos	varites	varin
imperative			si			sin

Periphrastic forms

The future and conditional forms shown in all tables above are more common in formal settings. Usually, in everyday Avendonian, constructions with the verb verdare (“to become”) and an infinitive following it are used instead. If verdare is inflected as present, the periphrasis conveys a future meaning. If the verb is in the perfect tense, it functions as a conditional. Compare:

Eo si duerabo morgano.

Eo verdo duere-si morgano. “I will do it tomorrow.”

Vi Si geldarabamos sed ne abemos nilo.

Vi vardamos geldare-te sed ne abemos nilo. “We would pay you but we have nothing.”

Note that verdare is a strong verb, so it undergoes ablaut in the past as usual.

Dialects

There are six major dialects of Avendonian. Central Avendonian (or midio) is considered the standard language, and it is the language most of the author's work is based upon. The main features of the other five dialects will be discussed in the following sections.

Alpine dialect

The Alpine dialect (avendoniano alpino in Avendonian) is characterized by the partial application of the High German consonant shift. This results in words like trincare (central drincare), esare (central etare), etc. The perfect tense is periphrastic in Alpine Avendonian. In place of the inflectional endings, a verbal construction is used. Its structure is [present indicative or subjunctive of abere, inflected for person and number] + [masculine singular passive participle of the main verb]. E.g. eo levui vs. eo abo leveto.

Burgundian dialects

Both Burgundian dialects feature historical diphthongs no longer extant in other dialects, where they merged with another vowel. Proto-Germanic *ō, *eu which gave u, i elsewhere, became uo, ie in the Burgundian dialects – for instance, buoce and friesare vs. central buce and frisare. They also share the presence of y /y/, descended from earlier *iu; dydere (central didere).

The High Burgundian dialect (avendoniano ocburgundico) features the HGCS. Low Burgundian (avendoniano lagburgundico) does not. Instead, masculine o-stem nouns and regular adjectives drop their final -o, except in those words whose Proto-Germanic ancestor stem ended in /w/. Those words are:

• blavo

• blio

• calo

• dovo

• frovo

• gelo

• gnio

• gravo

• meo

• scado

• snevo

• tovo

Genoese dialect

The Avendonian variation spoken in Genoa (former Larastade), the capital city of Avendonia, and its surroundings is considered^{[by who?]} a sociolect rather than a fully-fledged dialect. Due to the historical importance of Genoa as a trading center, the local vernacular is more internationalized. As a result, the language is not as conservative, i.e. has a greater tolerance for loanwords, largely from Romance languages. Examples of this are Genoese machina which displaced native vilo, depresione vs. svarmuto, etc.

North Adriatic dialect

Maybe because of Slavic influence, the North Adriatic dialect of Avendonian (nordadriatico) features a series of palatalizations exclusive to this dialect. This is seen in words like nace (nate) or scione (scone).

In addition, there is evidence of the existence of a pitch-accent system in North Adriatic Avendonian. Stressed syllables whose vowel evolved from a long vowel carries a rising tone and causes the following vowel to be pronounced with a mid tone. Moreover, if the stressed vowel comes from a short vowel, but it is not followed by a historical consonant cluster or geminate, it carries a low falling tone. Vowels in any other environment are rendered toneless.

alico (“alike, similar”), from PGmc. Proto-Germanic *galīkaz → [a.ˈli˩˥.ko˧]

stulo (“chair”), from PGmc. Proto-Germanic *stōlaz → [ˈstu˩˥.lo˧]

uvilo (“evil”, adj.), from PGmc. Proto-Germanic *ubilaz → [u.ˈvi˨˩.lo]

fadre (“father”), from PGmc. Proto-Germanic *fadēr → [ˈfa˨˩.dre]

This feature is also somewhat present in northeastern and non-standard Central Avendonian.

Sample texts

The North Wind and the Sun

El nordvinto e la suna stridaban ci era el starcior, cando uno resetore encamo uleto en uno mantelo varmo.

El

DEF.ART;MSG

The

nordvinto

North Wind

North Wind

e

and

and

l-a

DEF.ART-FSG

the

suna

sun

Sun

strid-ab-an

fight-IMPERF-3PL

were disputing

ci

who

which

era

COP;IMPERF.3SG

was

el

DEF.ART;MSG

the

starc-ior,

strong-COMP[MSG]

stronger,

cando

when

when

un-o

INDF.ART-MSG

a

resetore

traveler

traveler

El nordvinto e l-a suna strid-ab-an ci era el starc-ior, cando un-o resetore

DEF.ART;MSG {North Wind} and DEF.ART-FSG sun fight-IMPERF-3PL who COP;IMPERF.3SG DEF.ART;MSG strong-COMP[MSG] when INDF.ART-MSG traveler

The {North Wind} and the Sun {were disputing} which was the stronger, when a traveler

encam-o

PRF\come-PST.INDIC.3SG

came along

ul-et-o

cover-PP-MSG

wrapped

en

in

in

un-o

INDF.ART-MSG

a

mantelo

mantle

cloak

varm-o

warm-MSG

warm

encam-o ul-et-o en un-o mantelo varm-o

PRF\come-PST.INDIC.3SG cover-PP-MSG in INDF.ART-MSG mantle warm-MSG

{came along} wrapped in a cloak warm

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak.

Lord's Prayer

Fadre nosde ci bis en el Celo,
elageto si el name tede;
el cuningricio tede cume,
Si dueto el vile tede
en la Erda ca bi en el Celo.
Geva-nos, en eco dago, el broto dagico nosde,
e pergeva-nos le sundie nosde,
ca vi pergevamos si ce sunden contra nos;
e ne lede-nos en la persucitio,
sed defriie nos d'el uvilo.
Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

External links

• Avendonian language in Contionary
• ‘Conlang Exchange’ Discord Server, where Avendonian, among other conlangs, is taught
• Avendonian Memrise course
• Official Avendonian dictionary, the Vortbuce Avendoniano
• ‘Avendonian Word of the Day’ Telegram channel
• Telegram translation pack for Avendonian (19.92% complete, as of 21:01, 24 September 2023 (UTC))